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Description: The regular serial publication of the Society, issued quarterly, is the Journal of the American Oriental Society. The first volume, published in 1843-49, set the tone for all time in the broad scope of subject matter and the solidity of its scholarship. It included studies of Arab music, of Persian cuneiform, and of Buddhism in India, and brought to a wide audience the then novel theories of Pierre E. Du Ponceau, assailing the doctrine of the "ideographic" character of the Chinese script. From that year to the present day, the Journal has brought to the world of scholarship the results of the advanced researches of the most distinguished American Orientalists, specialists in the literatures and civilizations of the Near East, North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Inner Asia, the Far East and the Islamic World. The pages of the Journal are always open to original and interesting contributions from scholars. To assure competent and impartial appraisal of the scholarly level of the material submitted for publication, the editorial staff is composed of recognized scholars in each of the major areas served by the Society. Membership in the AOS includes an annual subscription to the Journal.

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Note: This article is a review of another work, such as a book, film, musical composition, etc. The original work is not included in the purchase of this review.

Abstract

This review article of two editions of a medieval Arabic astronomical text raises a series of methodological questions relating to the writing of the general history of Arabic astronomy. These include, among others, the purpose of modern textual editions, their translations and the commentaries accompanying them, and the audience intended, as one addresses varying cultural requirements. Discussion of one of these works in particular also provides the opportunity to raise questions relative to the nature of manuscript evidence and the manner in which such evidence is deployed in modern studies, and the role of medieval commentaries in elucidating edited texts as well as the credence one should accord to the statements of medieval commentators on subjects beyond the immediate text with which they were concerned. Moreover, this essay focuses on the need to investigate the provenance of Arabic and Persian manuscripts now held in major European libraries (especially those in Italy and France), as it highlights the utility of such research in settling recently raised questions regarding the transmission of Arabic science to Europe during the Renaissance. Finally, evidence of such transmission raises the further question of its relevance for the ongoing debate regarding the influence of medieval Islamic astronomy on the works of Copernicus.